


In Need of Something Good Right Now

by BossToaster (ChaoticReactions)



Series: Let The Spectrum In [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 5 Things, Blindness, Dancing, Fake Engaged to be precise, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Gen, Holt Rescue, Hurt/Comfort, Shallura ship tease, Shiro (Voltron)-centric, just for fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-11 05:46:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7878805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticReactions/pseuds/BossToaster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>5 times someone held Shiro's hand.</p><p>Updated on Fridays.  </p><p>(Having read the previous fics in the series is not required but preferred)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Oh Please, Say To Me

Sam Holt was gone.

It was still so unbelievable. So strange. Shiro kept closing his eyes and thinking at it was some strange fever dream, that when he looked again he’d been harnessed into the cot on the ship and Sam would be sitting there with one of his books, ready to scold him for not getting enough sleep and getting sick on a mission.

But Shiro couldn’t fully believe that, either. This ship, this _alien_ ship, sounded so fundamentally different from theirs. The background white noise had a growl to it, compared to the whine of their equipment, and there were just too many people. Beings. Aliens. Shiro was used to the sound of three relatively quiet humans now, after the months it took to get to Kerberos. The constant footsteps, low murmur of voices that didn’t even sound human, the creak of doors opening and closing... none of it stopped. It was a constant reminder that this surreal nightmare was reality.

That, and the hand gripping his own.

Matt and Shiro had never held hands like this before the capture. The contact had mostly been limited to brushing and occasionally helping each other up, if someone lost balance. 

Part of that was Shiro’s fault, and he admitted that feely. He’d been so nervous about his first real, big mission that he’d been terrified of messing up. So he’d defaulted to doing everything by the book, just to have a script to follow. And in the end, he’d just come off as cold and distant. It had taken nearly a month into the mission for Shiro to relax, and then a couple more weeks for Matt to shake off his initial dislike of Shiro’s attitude.

Sam had just laughed at them. Found it funny. Even teased Shiro about his nerves later. _”If you get too worried about what could go wrong, you might miss a chance to do something great.”_

And Shiro’s thoughts were right back where they’d started.

Squeezing his hand, Shiro felt Matt shift against him. His face wasn’t visible, since Matt was pressing his face down onto Shiro’s shoulder, so much so that his glasses were pressing in. Already, the glass on them was cracked, and soon Matt was going to have to go without. Shiro didn’t press. Enough had changed and gone wrong. The glasses could wait.

It had only been a few hours since Sam had been ripped away and sent to wherever the mines were, and Shiro was still reeling with it. That they might never see him again, that he was going somewhere and they had no idea what would happen to him. If he would survive.

And in his absence, Shiro was technically commander of the mission.

It didn’t feel much like much of a mission now. Not when it was him and Matt huddled together in a cold, locked, dark room.

Matt let out a slow sigh, watery sounding but not quite a sob, as he picked his head up. His glasses slipped, no longer balanced. Shiro reached down and managed to catch them before they fell completely.

Taking them with his free hand, Matt chuckled, though it was a thin noise. “Nice reflexes, saving the cracked glasses from damage.”

“Habit,” Shiro replied, watching him carefully. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask if Matt was okay but... well, what a stupid question. “You want to talk?”

Matt nodded slowly. “Yeah. The quiet isn’t helping.” He shifted the hand holding Shiro’s, settling both in his lap instead of letting them hang between them. With the other hand he rotated the glasses, close enough that he could see them clearly. From the distant look in his eyes, he was remembering how he’d turned on the soldier holding him back as they took his father away. How he’d been backhanded almost casually in response, sending Matt crashing to the floor and breaking his glasses.

That was when Shiro had grabbed his hand, and they’d clung to each other the whole way here. And when they’d been left, he just... hadn't let go.

When Matt didn’t speak again, Shiro took a deep breath and thought desperately of something to say that wasn’t inane or painful. Family was a bad idea right now, and there was no mission talk to fall back on anymore.

What came out of his mouth was, “Why do you always sing that one song?”

Matt’s brow furrowed and he finally met Shiro’s eyes. “What song?”

“The... the Disney one. About going somewhere.”

Slowly, Matt’s lips quirked up. “From _Hercules_?”

Shiro shrugged in response. “I’m not sure.”

“Well, you start it.” When Shiro only stared at him in confusion, Matt’s brows jumped. “You always say something like ‘we’re on our way’, and that’s when I’d start. It’s part of the song. Or anything about distance.” He stared at him right back, looking a little like he wanted to laugh at Shiro. “You really never noticed that?”

Frowning, Shiro thought back. It was hard to remember specific times, since Matt did it so often and with so many different songs, but it checked out. The last few times, he’d definitely been talking about measurements or saying they’d be heading somewhere soon. “No, I never did.”

Matt gave him a bland look. “Great deductive reasoning.”

Shiro snorted at him and rolled his eyes. “I’d never seen the movie before, and it wasn’t like I was paying attention to you.”

That earned him a shove, and Matt let out something that was nearly a laugh, finally distracted. Shiro’s shoulders unknotted in response, despite how he was being jerked around. “Very rude. Not textbook at all, Shiro. What would our commanders say?”

“Cut your bangs, Shirogane,” Shiro replied immediately, doing his best impression of Iverson’s gravely tones. “I won’t have you crashing our ships because your hair was in your eyes.”

Cackling softly, Matt finally settled again, arm pressed against Shiro’s from nearly shoulder to elbow. He stared at the door for a moment, and Shiro watched him, wondering if he should try and joke more. It had been horrible to see Sam taken away, and he wasn’t Shiro’s father. Was it too far in the opposite direction, to try and keep the mood light? But getting hopeless wasn’t the answer either...

Before Shiro could come to a decision, Matt spoke again. “I’m going to make you watch that movie some day.”

Eyes wide, Shiro stared at the back of Matt’s head. “The Disney one?”

“Yeah.” Matt turned to face him, expression serious and jaw set. “We’re going to watch it with my Dad and my sister. Mom too, maybe, but she doesn’t always want to watch old movies with us. And whoever else you want to bring. That cadet that follows you around, maybe.”

“Keith,” Shiro corrected automatically, still staring at him in shock. “You-”

Matt’s lips thinned, and his gaze got more intense. “I’m serious. We’re going to watch a Disney movie, and I’m going to sing every song with you, because you’ll know them all by heart at that point.” He swallowed, and even in the dim lighting, Shiro could see his eyes getting wet. “We’re all getting home, and we’ll watch it.”

Heart aching, Shiro reached out with his free hand, resting it on Matt’s shoulder. “Yeah. We will.” Then, impulsively, he added, “I promise.”

Nodding, Matt swallowed hard. “Good.” With that he pressed against Shiro’s side again, now slumped so his head could rest on his shoulder. “You remember that.”

“I will.”

And despite his words, Shiro closed his eyes and pressed back against Matt, soaking up every big of heat and human contact he could as he planned.

Because he was in charge, now. And he’d make sure Matt got home safely, no matter what. With that knowledge settling in his head, Shiro let out a low sigh and started to drift, not really sleeping, but enough to feel like he’d gotten rest when they got wherever they were going.

***

A year later and thousands of light years away, Shiro woke with a start.

Instinctively, he stared down at his hand, still feeling the warmth of the dream - the memory - in his mind. But it wasn’t human skin there anymore, but cold metal. Nothing someone wanted to hold onto for comfort.

With a sigh, Shiro thumped back down on the pillows and stared out at the room. The paladin quarters were more like barracks than anything, but they were the lap of luxury compared to what a Galra prisoner had. Guilt twisted in his stomach, and Shiro twisted to press his face into the pillow so he couldn’t see it anymore.

The promise he’d made to Matt was never one he’d intended to keep. But he’d wanted to do whatever it took to get Matt and Sam home, not leave them to rot while he played at being a commander for an entirely different kind of mission.

Dammit, now Shiro was just getting morose.

Groaning, he pushed himself up and to his feet, tapping a control panel to bring up a clock. Barely three hours since Shiro had gone to bed. At least it was easier to fall back asleep from these dreams. They just sucked emotionally, rather than left him a physical wreck.

Still, sleep wasn’t going to come right away, so Shiro might as well do something productive. So he pulled on his boots and started to walk.

Shiro walked by each paladin’s bedroom door, listening. The walls were thick, so he couldn’t hear breathing, but if they were up to something he could usually hear that. Silence on all fronts, hopefully because of sleep. Then he did the same for Allura and Coran, before moving to the other major rooms. The kitchen, the rec room, the training room. Pidge’s workroom got a special walkthrough, because more than once she’d fallen asleep somewhere odd and he hadn’t noticed when he glanced in.

Everything was fine. It was a quiet night.

Finally, Shiro was back at his own room, and settled back into his time and location. Exhaustion still tugged at him, hopefully enough to get him asleep without much more tossing and turning. He settled back down for the night and stared up at the ceiling.

Despite his intentions, Shiro had kept half of his promise. 

And if he had anything to say about it, they’d do it again sometime, this time with the whole set.

That in mind, Shiro closed his eyes and turned over, determined to get at least a couple more hours before the day began again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I appreciate that so many fics have Matt and Shiro being close pre-mission, but the fact that he only seemed to know Pidge through stories kinda points against that to me. Like, they bonded, but I like to think it was a bit rocky. More fun that way. Shiro being awkward because this is his First Big Mission and his entire career rests on this oh god, so he clams up and goes super textbook, and Matt making a flash judgement based on that? A++.
> 
> I have a LOT of thought about this, ha. Haha...
> 
> See you next Friday!


	2. You've Got That Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Give a Lance an inch...

“Hey, have you seen this?”

Shiro closed his eyes and rubbed a hand over the bridge of his nose, fighting off a headache. They’d come to this planet for information and supplies, and Shiro had long since understood and accepted that most of them took these outings as a chance to relax and spread their legs. They spent so much time doing life-or-death things that just going shopping felt like a luxury after weeks in the castle and on missions.

Really, Shiro go it. He did.

But there was only so much he could take, and Lance was fast approaching the limit.

This particular store was lined with shelves that went up several stories, and small hovercrafts that took a passenger to their product of choice. Lance loved them. Well, all of them had been amused and fascinated, but eventually either they got distracted or they just had enough sense to keep from goofing off. Lance, however, was still riding the machine, going up and down and left to right, inputting different products to make it wheel around as far as possible.

And yes, it was a fun craft in a low-risk situation. But frankly, Lance was getting _embarassing_. The owner of the store kept shooting Lance irritated looks, and more than one patron was giving Shiro a stink eye, clearly wanting him to curb his unruly child.

Even as he watched, Lance went up on his tip-toes, reaching for a product the shelf above his head. He finally managed to reach it, but not before wobbling enough to knock the hovercraft into the shelf, making the whole thing wobble dangerously and sending a couple of items falling. Lance caught them, in a display of reflexes Shiro would usually be proud of, but not when the reason he needed them was something so ridiculous.

The owner stood now, clearly intending to intervene, so Shiro spoke up before he could. “Lance!” He barked, using his best commander voice.

Behind another display, Pidge let out a low ‘oooh’ noise, the sound implying ‘you’re in trouble’ better than any phrase. Shiro eyed where the voice came from, but she couldn’t see him and he doubted it would have stopped her anyway.

Lance hastily put away the products he’d either grabbed or knocked down, then lowered himself back to the ground. His shoulders were slumped, but his jaw was set rebelliously, clearly anticipating a lecture and already preparing himself to argue.

So Shiro cut him off and held out his natural hand.

Staring at it, Lance slowly looked back up at him. “I didn’t take anything.”

“Give me your hand.”

Lance paused. “What?”

Shiro’s brow raised and he didn’t move an inch. “Give me your hand.”

For a moment, Lance watched his hand like he was waiting for the joke. Then he slowly reached out and placed his palm over Shiro’s.

Wrapping his fingers around Lance’s hand, Shiro calmly turned and walked back to the displays, at a fast enough pace that Lance yelped and had to scramble to catch up. Then he waited in silence for all of a minute while Shiro glanced through the drink selection (because they could really do with something between ‘burns like alcohol’ and ‘water’). “Um. Can I...” He tugged, but Shiro didn’t let go.

“If you’re going to act like a toddler, you’re going to get treated like one,” Shiro replied easily, not even looking over. He kept his tone light, not hinting at anger or frustration. It was simple cause and effect.

Lance colored and tugged again, this time harder, but didn’t manage to pull away. “Shiro!” He groaned. “C’mon. Like a toddler could pull off those moves anyway.”

Putting down what looked like neon-green juice, Shiro slowly turned his head back around until he could meet Lance’s eyes.

At Shiro’s look, Lance froze and then took a step back. “Right. Sorry. Nevermind.”

“Glad we understand.” Smiling at him, the look full of teeth, Shiro went back to looking.

Of course, Lance was Lance. So he managed to stay still and quiet for a couple of minutes, before he started to fidget. At first he just wandered as far as their connected hands would let him, looking at what was available. Then he started to bounce in place, unhappy with being tethered. “Can I go?” He finally asked, voice pitched up to a whine.

“Nope,” Shiro replied easily, letting Lance’s annoyed groan wash over him. And because there was mercy in him, he turned around to face him. “But we can move if you want.”

Pausing, Lance considered him. “Like, look around?” At Shiro’s nod, he considered that. Giving one last unhappy look at their linked hands, he finally turned and started to wander over to the other, lower shelves, making a beeline toward where Hunk had been investigating some kind of local plant life.

As they passed shelves, Shiro craned his neck, keeping an eye on the others. Pidge had sat down in front of a display of old robot parts, and already had a small pile amassed in her lap. Knowing her, she was just making notes of what parts were interesting, and she’d machine them in the castle. 

Keith was deeper into the store, and when he saw the way Shiro was stubbornly holding onto Lance’s hand, he smirked smugly. That made Lance come to a sudden stop, and Shiro nearly barrelled into his back. Before something could start, Shiro shot Keith a quelling look until he glanced away, then pushed at Lance’s back, keeping him moving. Not today, thank you. Shiro’s patience was already shot.

By the time they made it to Hunk, Lance was swinging their joined arms. Glancing back, he shot Shiro a hopeful look. “You know, toddlers get piggyback rides too.”

“Don’t push it,” Shiro replied, but Lance was so hopefully at the idea that he couldn’t manage the proper tone to shut it down. And, well, the idea was a little amusing.

Lance pressed against his side, staring up at him, eyes suddenly very big. “Aww, it’ll be fun. And I won’t be able to go anywhere.”

Arching a brow, Shiro sighed. “This isn’t supposed to be a reward.”

“It won’t be!” Lance insisted, sensing his weakening resolve. “I won’t be able to wander around. That works, right?”

How had he gone from being so annoyed to being talked into this?

Sighing, Shiro let go and turned around, letting Lance clamor up his back and whoop. They were getting stares again, but honestly, Shiro couldn’t be bothered. This time Lance wasn’t doing something dangerous, just ridiculous, so they could deal with it.

Shiro walked over to Hunk, who paused in smelling what he was holding to smile at them. “Oh no. You fell for it.”

That boded well. “He made a convincing argument.”

“Well, I hope you like it, because you’ll hear it a lot, now.” Hunk shook his head fondly and went back to shopping. “Lance won’t leave you alone anymore.”

Hands clapped over Shiro’s ears, though it didn’t stop him from hearing the conversation at all. “Stop ruining this,” Lance hissed at Hunk. “I have a good thing going.”

Hunk snorted. “Last time I gave you a piggyback ride, you didn’t stop asking for more for a month. It’s fair to warn Shiro what he got into.”

“Too late,” Lance shot back. “And Shiro was easier to convince than you were.”

“Really?” Pidge asked, right behind them, and Shiro jumped and nearly dropped Lance from surprise. His passenger had to clamp his legs tightly around Shiro’s chest to keep from falling, grabbing onto his bangs for purchase. Cursing lowly, Shiro regained his hold, then pried Lance’s fingers out of his hair, rubbing his scalp. Pidge shot them a grin. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to sneak up on you.”

From her tone, Shiro doubted that she had tried to announce her presence, either. But he just sighed and took a deep breath. “It’s fine.”

Nodding, Pidge crossed her arms and studied them. “How easy was he to convince?”

Lance laughed. “I just said it’d make me still and he did it.”

“You wanna get dropped?” Shiro asked, tone darkening, and Lance shifted so he was holding on like a Koala bear. “I feel like talking about how gullible I am while I’m carrying you is a bad idea.”

Resting his chin on top of Shiro’s head, Lance patted his shoulder. “It’s in a good way.”

Pidge stared for another long moment. “So we all get a turn, right?”

“What?” Shiro frowned at her. “No.”

Barely bothering to hide his snickers, Hunk shrugged. “I dunno, Shiro. It’s only fair.”

“No way!” Lance shot back. “This is my ride, get your own.”

“I’m not going to drop you, I’m going to throw you,” Shiro decided, voice dark, which just made Lance hold on tighter. “And next time you can stay on the castle. All of you.”

Keith chose that moment to turn the corner and join them. “What? Why! Don’t punish us for whatever Lance did.”

Bristling so much Shiro could feel it on his back, Lance leaned forward, using Shiro’s shoulders as a balance. “Hey! Why do you think I did something?”

“Because it’s always you.”

The predictable argument started just as Pidge started to demand Shiro had to give everyone a turn if Lance got a turn, because it was important to be fair, ‘as a leader’. Hunk backed Pidge up, tone barely disguising a laugh.

It got very loud, very quickly.

Shiro closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then shouted,” Atten _tion_.”

Well trained by the Garrison and his tone, all four snapped to attention, Lance even sliding off Shiro’s back to do so. It only lasted a second, but after they were aware of how loud and disruptive they’d gotten, and the stares they were receiving from the other patrons.

Arms crossed, Shiro frowned at them all. “Link hands. Now.” 

There was a distinctive air of sulk to all of them, but Keith, Pidge and Lance all grabbed each other’s hands, refusing to meet each other’s eyes. Surprisingly, Hunk was the hold out, and he frowned back at Shiro. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You were enabling,” Shiro shot back, voice still stern.

Hunk paused then nodded agreeably. “Fair enough.” And then he took Keith’s hand.

Due to being behind Shiro, Lance had ended up at one end of the chain, so Shiro took his hand again. Then he picked up Hunk’s basket and glanced at him. “Were you planning on getting anything else?”

“I hadn’t gone through everything, but probably not,” Hunk replied calmly. He still only sounded amused at the whole thing. Apparently Shiro was going to need to hold an extra training session soon. Maybe for endurance. Lots of laps. Laps for hours.

Shiro nodded, then tugged the daisy chain of paladins behind him as he went up front to pay. The storekeeper eyed them, but looked to eager to have such noisy customers gone, so they were rung up and sent off with nary a comment.

As Shiro marched them down the road to where they’d landed the castle, Keith spoke up. “So why were you guys yelling about piggyback rides?”

“Lance got one, so I wanted one too,” Pidge replied, voice low, as if it would keep Shiro from hearing. “It’s fair.”

Shiro didn’t look back, but he could imagine Keith’s thoughtful frown. “Oh. Why?”

There was a slight pause before Pidge replied. “It’s fun, is all. And I get to be tall.”

“I’ll give you a piggyback,” Hunk offered. “I’m basically the same height.”

Lance let out a loud, indignant noise. “What! No fair, you said no more piggyback rides ever!”

Groaning, Shiro closed his eyes. Not for the first or last time, he wondered if the universe was really worth the trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Daisy chain of paladins" is the best phrase I will ever write in my life.


	3. I think you'll understand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shut up and dance with me

Shiro wouldn’t call himself comfortable in diplomatic situations. He always had the feeling they were just one step away from success or disaster, and it just highlighted the training he didn’t have for these situations. He’d been taught to fly ships, not to schmooze with self important types. Shiro had always viewed officer parties in the military with vague, distant horror.

The reality of them was worse.

An hour into the event, and Shiro was dying to leave. The fight to get the Galra off this planet had been a difficult one, because of it’s strategic location, but the rulers hardly seemed to care either way. The people were no doubt glad to be free, and Shiro kept reminding himself of that, but it was hard to when the ones he kept talking to didn’t seem to care about the horrors the Galra had caused. They were only bothering to have the ‘party’ in an effort to get in good with the new bosses. Shiro could have understood and even respected it if it wasn’t so transparently bullshit.

Wandering across the room, he cast a look around out of habit, making sure everyone was good. Hunk seemed to have dragged Pidge to a corner and their heads were bent together. Either they were talking about one of their latest projects - Shiro had given up trying to keep track, since they multiplied by the day - or Pidge was venting out all the insults building up in her, and Hunk was providing a safe ear. Either or, they both seemed content for the moment.

Keith had retreated to one of the walls, leaning against it and eyeing anyone who came. His bayard was openly settled on his hip, not active but easily grabbed, and eventually even the most determined of brown-nosers had learned to steer clear of him. Under normal circumstances, Shiro would have encouraged him to at least try and be non-confrontational, but... well, Shiro was too tempted to join him to even try.

On the other side of the room, Coran was telling some kind of story, gesturing wildly in emphasis. Lance was listening in, and they’d attracted a small group of followers, probably because they were one of the loudest pairs in the room. For once, that wasn’t because they were actually being loud, but because the rest of the murmured non-conversations were so quiet. From Lance’s uninterested expression, he was only listening because anything Coran wanted to talk about was probably better than listening to anyone else.

And Allura... ah, there. She was speaking to the commander of the Kree, Jaf, as well as their child, Rayac. Rayac was standing quite close to her, actually, but not much more than the rest of them. These people seemed to have very little concept of personal space, and while they usually didn’t touch much - anyone from Team Voltron or each other - they almost always stood close enough to be uncomfortable.

But Allura had dealt with that so far without looking nearly this uncomfortable. But now she glanced back and caught his eye, and the wide eyed look she shot him had Shiro walking over immediately. Just in case, he switched his drink from the metal hand to the natural one, because they had been fooled by people they thought were welcoming before.

When Shiro stood next to her, though, Allura reached back and took his metal hand in hers. “Hello, darling,” she greeted, and while her mouth curled up in a smile, her eyes demanded he go along with it. Shiro nearly dropped his drink, but managed to fumble and regain his grip before it spilled everywhere..

“Darling?” Rayac asked, face crinkling in a way that gave Shiro the impression of a frown. Their faces didn’t seem to emote much, honestly, though he had no trouble reading their tone. And Rayac was put out. “I thought his name was Shiro.”

Smiling at him, though it was a bit too toothy to be properly warm, Allura placed her hand around Shiro’s bicep, tugging him closer. He jerked with the movement, once again nearly splashing the drink over himself. “It is,” Allura assured Rayac. “It is what I call him, as my Intended.”

Oh. Shiro could hear the capitals in that.

He drained the last of the drink, just to prevent more near-misses, then awkwardly shuffled it one last time and placed his hand over hers. The smile he painted on felt incredibly fake, but Shiro hoped the Kree had as awkward a time reading their expressions as they did the Kree. “Hello, Dear,” he managed. It was honestly a struggle not to call her ‘Princess’.

Jaf seemed to deflate - possibly literally - and he eyed Shiro. Suddenly, he was much less friendly than he’d been just ten minute ago. “I see.” Rayac shuffled over next to him as he glanced between them, then nodded one last time and wandered off without a word.

It would have been insulting if the Kree hadn’t been doing that all night. Actually, it still was, a little, but Shiro was trying not to let that color his actions.

“Did you need something?” Allura asked, her fingers digging into the metal with impressive force. Honestly, Shiro was going to need to check for dents after this.

Brows raising, Shiro nodded. “A moment of your time, if it can be spared.” He glanced up at Jaf, who sighed and waved them off.

Allura nearly dragged him away. The second they were out of earshot, Shiro’s brows jumped and he eyed her. “So. Any reason for this, _Darling_?”

Sighing, Allura shook her head. “They were discussing a political marriage. Very vaguely, and every hint I dropped was ignored. I didn’t want to have to say it outright, and this seemed the easiest way to do get the conversation over with. A courtship with the leader of Voltron would make a lot of sense to them. It keeps Voltron under my power, and gives you a political ladder.”

Shiro crinkled his nose, but didn’t disagree with the thought. That would be how Jaf thought, at least, as would most of the beings in this room. “So now I need to play the part of the devoted... Fiance?”

Tilting her head, Allura frowned. “I think the concepts are similar, from what I understand. Someone who you intend to be in a permanent romantic relationship with.”

Okay, so, yes, Fiance. Shiro nodded his understanding and leaned in closer, because if he was going to sell this, then there was no sense going halfway. “Well, if you’re my Intended, I think I would be affectionate, so that someone like Rayac would know not to try something.”

“Would you?” Allura replied back, her own voice dropping, and her lips curling up. “That would be very daring of you.”

Holding back a laugh, Shiro tilted his chin up, doing his best to match Allura’s regal posture, rather than his own military stance. “As befitting a Paladin of Voltron,” he returned, then used the hand over hers to bring her knuckles to his lips and press a soft kiss there.

Allura used her other hand to cover her mouth, hiding the grin Shiro could see peeking through her fingers. From a distance, though, it must not have looked so playful, because the sound of breaking glass made Shiro glance over, brow already furrowed. 

Lance was staring at them, fingers still curved from the glass he’d dropped. Then he made a choking noise and sputtered at them.

Expression going stern, Shiro’s brows jumped and he stepped closer to Allura, knowing without looking that she’d be sending him a stern look too. “Yes?” His tone was as flat as possible, and the same register he used for orders that needed to be obeyed immediately.

For a moment, Lance continued to stare, and then his brain seemed to catch up. He nodded and looked away, but started to smack Coran’s arm instead, voice quiet and indistinct but pitched high.

Glancing over at the other paladins, who were eyeing them with open curiosity - well, Keith was mostly scowling, but it was a curious scowl - Shiro sighed and glanced at her. “Well, that ruined the joke.”

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Allura replied easily. Then she wrapped one arm behind Shiro’s waist and pulled him forward and up, so that his hips came up and his back dipped back. At first he stiffened, unsure what she was doing and startled by the contact, but then he laughed and leaned back with it, allowing her to hold up his weight as he was dipped until his head was nearly level with his hips. Her arms didn’t shake in the slightest, even when holding up the majority of his not insignificant weight, and that was so uncommon and just _nice_ that Shiro’s chest warmed.

When she tugged him back up, Allura was beaming, and Shiro grinned right back, straightening and settling his weight back down. “I’ve not known many soldiers who do that so well,” she commented, taking his hand again.

Shiro shrugged one shoulder, still slightly pink over his cheeks and ears. “I took dance and gymnastics classes for several years. The flexibility came in handy later, when we’d do combat training.”

Eyes widening, Allura’s ears actually perked up, and Shiro did his best not to watch them. He got the feeling it was rude. “You dance?”

“Not for years,” Shiro replied. “And obviously not the same dances. But yes, I can do a little.”

Flashing him another dazzling smile, Allura turned and used his hand to tug him to a more deserted corner of the room. Not coincidentally, it was the same corner Keith had been occupying.

It was interesting, to be lead in a dance. Shiro had never done much of that, even when learning, because he’d been one of the few guys and half a head taller than most everyone else even back then. But it wasn’t something he objected to, especially when Allura was so engaging as a teacher and confident as a dancer.

Altean dancing, it turned out, had a lot of little hops to it, and Shiro fought the urge to keep looking down to make sure he wasn’t landing anywhere awkwardly. It also had a lot of spins, but from Allura’s grins, he wondered if that might be an exaggeration just because she happened to find those moves fun.

“And up,” she murmured to him, rhythmically guiding him through the increasingly long steps. “Then around, then around, then big up!” When Shiro jumped, she caught him around the waist and spun him up high, startling him into a laugh. She set him down on her other side, laughing at his no doubt slightly flushed expression. “There we are, you do pick up these things fast.”

Shiro grinned back. “I try. I have a good teacher.” Allura patted his arm fondly, then took his hand and looked around. They were being studiously ignored by the Kree, and Shiro noted, very belatedly, that such an open display of something so fun was probably not in vogue in this crowd.

Well. Shit.

Probably realizing the same thing, Allura went faintly red and glanced around for Coran. He had taken Allura’s place with Jaf, and when she caught his eye, he gave a small smile, then waved them off, letting her know he had it covered.

Shiro squeezed her hand gently. “We may have gotten a little carried away.”

“A bit,” Allura replied dryly. “It had been a while since I had a dance partner, but that’s no excuse.”

Offering his own bland smile back, Shiro nodded. “Not for either of us. But... I hate to say it, but this does seem like a planet where we can afford slightly cool relations.”

It was an excuse, really, because neither of them should have gotten so caught up, but it was also true. If they weren’t exactly on the nicest of terms with Jaf, it didn’t matter much so long as he didn’t turn around and go back to the Galra. And given how much effort that would be, and his own chances of death would be high in that situation, Shiro doubted that.

After a moment of considering, Allura nodded. She glanced around, looking for someone who had an opening to talk with, but they were still utterly shut out. 

While she glanced around, Keith stepped up next to them, eyeing them both speculatively. “If I’d known dancing would work that well, I’d have done that myself.”

Shiro shot him a bland look, because they were still in the same room and he could try not to insult anyone, please. But then again, Shiro and Allura had been just as bad at that this time, so he let it go. “You wouldn’t have. You wouldn’t even go over footwork with me, back in the day.”

“Letting you trip me up in your dorm room is different from not having to small talk,” Keith replied blandly. “I probably would have if it’d been put like that.”

Snorting, Shiro rolled his eyes fondly at Keith. “I’m not sure. You looked like I tried to smack you when I brought it up the first time.”

“Would you like to try with me?” Allura asked, tone perfectly polite but eyes bright with mischief. “Perhaps it’s the dance partner that’s not to your liking.”

While Shiro placed a dramatic hand on his chest, channeling Lance as best he could, Keith eyed Allura like a caged animal. “The dance partner isn’t the problem,” he finally answered. “It’s the dancing.”

Still smiling in that same, disarming way, Allura tilted her head. “Well, we’ve seen how well that flexibility and balance did for Shiro. Perhaps our next training session should involve some dance steps to help with that.”

Keith looked like he’d bit into a lemon. Unable to help himself, Shiro turned to Allura and nodded. “That sounds like a great idea,” he replied, just to watch Keith’s eyes go wide with horror.

“We’re dancing?” Lance asked, practically sliding over. “Hell yes, I’m so down for that. Gunna bust out my sweet movies. I call Allura as a dance partner!”

Expression going flat, Allura eyed Lance. “I don’t know about that. I don’t think I can be ‘called’.”

Lance paused, probably sensing the danger he was about to step into (he was _learning_. Shiro was so proud). That gave Hunk and Pidge enough time to wander over, drawn by the commotion, no doubt. “Dancing? That could be fun.” He looked genuinely interested in the idea, and Shiro shot Allura a quick, considering look, brows raised. It had been fun to tease, but it also wasn’t the worst idea in the world, either...

Narrowing her eyes at them, Pidge thinned her lips. “I dunno.” Then she eyed Lance, then Keith, expression going sly. Then she looked back at Shiro and Allura. “Only if I can dance with Hunk.”

“Really?” Hunk replied, looking honestly flattered. “That’d be nice.”

Pidge went a little wide-eyed, but it was too late to back out now. Shiro suspected she’d only agreed to make Lance and Keith dance together, and for the potential of chaos, but there was no way she could step back without disappointing Hunk now.

All in all, this had set itself up pretty nicely. And if they could get Lance and Keith to work together long enough to dance without arguing (Shiro was allowed to dream), maybe they’d learn to be around each other without baiting each other for ten damn minutes.

While Keith sputtered, looking nearly offended that the tide had turned against him so completely, Coran wandered over, smiling at them. “Alright, I’ve made our apologies. I don’t think there’s much else to be done here.”

Glancing at each other, Allura and Shiro tried not to look like chastised children. “Apologies, Coran,” Allura replied. “We should not have gotten so distracted.”

“Likely not,” Coran replied easily, flapping his hand. His gaze was warm as he watched her. “But it was lovely to see you dance again. Had I the opportunity, I wouldn’t have chosen to stop you.”

Allura’s eyes went wide, then she smiled back just as warmly. “Thank you.”

Squeezing the hand she was still holding, Shiro tilted his head toward the door. “Should we return to the castle, then?”

“Yes, I think so,” Allura replied, and she finally let go as she stepped away. Coran walked to her side, and they chatted in low voices as they walked. From what Shiro was able to catch, he suspected they were discussing old memories, so he held back to give them privacy.

Which, unfortunately, left him to Lance’s tender mercies. “You woman stealer,” Lance hissed, too dramatically to be real. He tilted his chin up aggressively and put a hand on his hip, then pointed right at Shiro’s chest. “Making a move while my back was turned.”

Brows raising, Shiro tilted his head. He didn’t even bother to speak, and just continued to give him a _look_ until Lance wilted.

“Alright, alright, stop. It’s a joke, I don’t need a lecture. Stop giving me the look.” Lance shuddered and took a shuffling side step to put more space between them.

Unable to help it, Shiro’s lips quirked up. “I don’t know, Lance. I think you need a reminder that people are not property, and you can’t steal one. We should have a heart to heart. A sit down moment. Or hour, a sit down hour.”

“Stop!” Lance groaned, grabbing onto Hunk’s back and hiding his face in his shirt. “Save me.”

Rolling his eyes, Hunk glanced back at Lance, then looked at Shiro. “So what was that about, anyway?”

“The leader was trying to set her up with the eldest child, so she needed an out when they wouldn’t take her hints,” Shiro replied easily, shrugging. “I was teasing until we started dancing.”

Pidge eyed him with almost scientific scrutiny, and for a moment it sent an uncomfortable shiver down Shiro’s spine, but the resemblance to Matt quickly overwhelmed that. He’d spent months sitting across a table from that expression. “Where’d you learn to dance like that?”

“Dance lessons,” Keith answered for him. Shiro nodded his agreement, and ignored the looks of surprise with practiced ease. “I think this was a set-up for you to get back into practice.”

Shiro snorted. “Yes. I’ve been found out. How evil of me. You know my true form.”

Finally picking his head up from Hunk’s back, Lance eyed him. “You’re all fun today. Was it from Allura or the dancing?”

“I’m fun every day,” Shiro replied blandly. Then he actually considered the question. “It’s a light day. But the dancing helped. It’s not something I’ve done in a while.”

The conversation went quiet as they approached the castle. A hand on his arm made Shiro glance back, and the met Keith’s suddenly serious gaze. “The dancing training could be okay.”

Reaching back, Shiro ruffled his hair. “It’s gunna be mostly footwork, don’t worry. But thanks.” He offered him a smile as Keith shook his head like a dog, trying to get his mussed hair to fall back in place.

Then an arm wrapped around Shiro’s shoulders, and he was pulled sideways into Coran’s chest. His fist clenched automatically, but it was hard to mistake Coran’s loose arm draping with an actual grab, and relaxed quickly.

Then he caught sight of Coran’s sharp gaze and tensed right back up.

“Shiro!” Coran crowed, just a bit _too_ friendly. “Just the man I wanted to talk to.”

Uh oh. “It was her idea,” Shiro replied immediately, eyes going wide. And he’d feel worse about throwing her under the bus, but Shiro was not going to be killed by an overprotective caretaker to be gentlemanly. Not for this.

“Of that, I have no doubt,” Coran replied smoothly, not missing a beat or letting go in the slightest. He started to walk down the wall, half-dragging Shiro along with him. It was easy to forget that Coran could be just as strong as Allura, but there was no mistaking it now. “But just in case it happens again, I think we should have a little talk, don’t you? About the expectations on an Intended.”

Catching sight of Allura down the hall, Shiro shot her a wide-eyed look. She hid her mouth behind her hand again and gave a friendly wave.

Dammit. Shiro couldn’t even lecture her or give her extra training in revenge. Unfair.

As Coran started to talk, tone so cheerful it could only be a threat, Shiro sighed and settled in for the long run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I just want to do fake dating and talk about my dancing headcanons?
> 
> Yes, yes I did. Glad we're both on the same page.


	4. When I'll Say That Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not what you hear that's important, it's what you don't.

_Thump._

Sitting up, Shiro kicked off the blankets. That noise had been loud, but not necessarily worrying. The paladin quarters were all near each other, and so he tended to hear odd noises often enough. After the first few times, he’d stopped investigating if it only happened once.

This time though, he could hear pained grunting, and it didn’t sound like it was coming from the walls on either side of his room, but from the door. So he set aside the pad he was reading from and walked to the door, peering out.

Hunk was leaning against the wall, using his hand to feel it out and push himself back up. There were bandages over his eyes, a result of their last battle. Hunk had been working on rigging the ship they’d infiltrated to work with Pidge’s programs, so they could at least control the doors and control panels. But when the guards and found them, they’d fired on Hunk. He hadn’t been hit directly, but instead the shots had hit the machine, causing it to spark and flare up in his face. The burns had healed after a few hours in a healing pod, but his eyes were left so photosensitive and sore they couldn’t be left uncovered.

“Hey,” Shiro murmured, voice low. Hunk started, then turned to face his direction. “You need a hand?”

For a moment, Hunk frowned, and it looked like he’d been stubborn, but then he sighed and nodded. “Um. A bit. Just to get oriented.”

Life would be much easier if they were as good as listening to sense as Hunk was.

Stepping over, Shiro rested a hand on Hunk’s shoulder, letting him get oriented to where Shiro was, then wrapped an arm around his chest to help lug Hunk to his feet. “What are you doing out of bed? Need something?”

Hunk gave him a sheepish smile. “Not really. I was just bored of lying in bed. There’s only so much I could take, you know?”

Okay, so Hunk wasn’t perfect at it, either.

With a sigh, Shiro patted Hunk’s back. “Yeah, I get it. There’s not much you can do in there without your sight, huh?” At Hunk’s groan and nod, Shiro glanced down the hall. “Well, I think everyone else is out and about. We could head over to the rec room, how’s that? At least there’s enough going on around there that there’s more to listen to. And I think injury is reason enough to break out a movie.”

“We need to reference the chart,” Hunk muttered thoughtfully. “It might rank high enough.” He took a step forward, then hesitated. “Um, am I about to walk into you?”

Shiro smiled, though Hunk wouldn’t be able to see it. “I think it does. If nothing else, because it scared the crap out of us. I thought you’d been hit.” He considered, then reached out and rested his hand on Hunk’s arm. “I’ll warn you if you’re about to hit something. Like the invisible maze.”

That earned him a groan. “I hate that maze so much,” Hunk grumbled. He took another step forward, then hesitated anew. His other hand came up to rest over Shiro’s, tense and clammy.

Brow furrowing, Shiro looked Hunk over again, this time for body language rather than injury. He was tense, which Shiro would expect from the situation, and he was a lot harder to read without his eyes showing. But there was a stiffness to his shoulders and movements that was familiar.

Shiro should have known this was going to make Hunk anxious. And he had, just not to the degree it was.

Gently pulling Hunk’s hand off, Shiro instead wrapped his own hand around it. For a moment he hesitated, because Hunk happened to be on the side with the metal arm, but he figured it was fine for the moment. “That help?”

Hunk considered, then smiled. “Yeah, I think so.” When Shiro started to walk, Hunk followed, if a bit hesitant. But when there were no obstacles and things to stumble over, and Shiro made sure to let Hunk know when they were about to turn, he relaxed.

They made it to the rec room with only minimal tripping, and Hunk seemed to have gained a little confidence with his feet under him. Which was good. Even if his eyes came out of it completely fine - and that was still up in the air, at this point - he was likely to need the bandages or some form of cover for a few more days at least.

Walking forward on his own, Hunk reached out until his hand hit the back of the couch, and then he was able to follow that until he could sit down. But he didn’t let go of Shiro’s hand in the journey, pulling him down with him. 

When Shiro sat, Hunk started to push and pull their hands between them, making the metal arm work like if Shiro was lifting hand weights. At first, it wasn’t clear what Hunk was doing, but then Shiro saw the way his head was tilted, ear aimed toward it, and he realized he was listening to the whine.

“Do you still hear it?” Hunk finally asked, moving on to twisting his wrist instead. It still made the noise that way, but quieter. “I haven’t for weeks.”

Considering, Shiro shook his head, then winced. Right. Blindfolded. “Not really. Sometimes at night. It’s background noise for me.”

Hunk nodded thoughtfully. “I think we just don’t normally hear it. It’s quiet, and someone is usually talking, or we’re training and there’s just always something else. Or maybe that’s just me.” He started to work the fingers, then froze and glanced at Shiro, seemingly out of habit. “Oh! Is this okay?”

“It’s fine,” Shiro replied, not bothering to keep the laugh out of his voice. They tended to associate the engineering zen state to Pidge, who could work on a project while the Castle fell apart around her, but Hunk was prone to it too. “Honestly, I’m pretty used to you and Pidge messing with my arm by now. It doesn’t bother me.” They’d long since proven they were careful not to do anything that would bother him, after all.

Hunk considered that, then nodded again. “Okay. But if you’re lying with your voice and I can’t tell, I’m gunna be mad.”

This time, Shiro laughed outright. “Seriously, the hand is yours to play with. I’m glad it’s amusing you.”

That made Hunk’s uncovered eyebrow jump, and he suddenly shifted his grip so he was shaking Shiro’s hand like it was a business meeting. “Yes. Very amusing.” Then he smirked. “You’re lucky Lance isn’t here right now.”

It took Shiro a moment to realize the possible joke in playing with hands, then he groaned. “The fact that you even thought about it is bad enough.” Hunk laughed, full bellied and gleeful, and Shiro smiled back, fond and relieved that he seemed to be thoroughly distracted.

“You know, Pidge and I were working on a device that would let you change the colors, since you seemed to enjoy the last time,” Hunk told him, voice distant and slightly thoughtful. “We even had a prototype. But we couldn’t get anything small enough to carry around with you. And, you know, there’s always another project. Galra tech is just so... complicated. The connections aren’t intuitive like the Earth technology we grew up on. Altean stuff is better, but...” He sighed and placed his palm against Shiro’s metal one, pushing back idly on the fingers. “It reminds you how alien everything is. Literally.”

Shiro closed his eyes. “Yeah. It can be tough to deal with.” In hindsight, it didn’t bother him as much as he thought it should. Probably, he’d been confronted with that during his year of captivity and got past it, and now was just... used to it. His understanding of Galra technology was much more varied than most of the others, only surface level. And the Altean designs tended to give him pause, different in some way that he couldn’t put his finger on.

Silence hung, then Hunk sighed. “I think I’m just morose today.”

Frowning, Shiro reached out with his other hand and squeezed Hunk’s shoulder. “Because of your eyes? Coran said you’d bounce back from this.” Or, there was a good chance, at least. Focusing on the positive was all they could do now.

“No that,” Hunk replied, then paused. His nose crinkled. “Well, okay, that probably started it. It’s not that I can’t see, exactly, it’s that I have to think about what I’m hearing.” His head twisted away, like he was trying to avoid Shiro’s eyes, even when he couldn’t see him. “Um. I never really liked flying, and part of it was the motion sickness thing, but I also don’t like the... the idea. Of being in a space ship with nothing else between us and the vacuum of space. Of not being on solid ground, you know? Even normal planes were always kinda.... Eugh.” He sighed and leaned heavily into the couch cushions. “I dunno, I guess I stopped thinking about it, after a while. Connecting with the yellow lion made it all easier. But now I have to focus on sounds so much that I keep... there’s stuff I want to hear. The ocean. Wind. Animals. All stuff you don’t get here.”

Shiro’s heart clenched, because he understood that. Deeply. Every odd sound on a Galra ship had been another constant reminder of where he was, and more importantly where he wasn’t. And he hated that Hunk knew that pain. That any of them did. He squeezed Hunk’s shoulder again, considering. He could ask Pidge to rip some sound from one of the movies, maybe, or if anyone happened to have environmental noises for some reason, but... it would take time, probably, and it would involve going away and working on it, when Hunk needed him now.

So he needed another plan.

“The stuff from home?” Shiro guessed, squeezing Hunk’s hand in his. At the answering nod, he sighed and shifted closer, so their sides were pressed together and their hands were still locked. He wasn’t going to let to if it might be helping Hunk. “I’ve never been around there. I wanted to, actually, but that kind of trip was never in the cards when I was home, and then obviously going to the Garrison interrupted things.” Hunk cracked a small smile at that, nodding his understanding. “But I love the beach, honestly. My aunt and uncle lived in California, close to this one beach. I forget the name, but I used to spend hours there, just lying out on the sound and enjoying it.”

Hunk turn his head, smiling against Shiro’s shoulder. “It’s hard to imagine you just lying somewhere.”

Laughing, Shiro leaned into Hunk, gently jolting him. “Well, there weren’t aliens to fight then. Much more down time that way.” He waited until Hunk relaxed down again, then continued, voice going softer, deeper, just a bit slower. Meditative. “I’d time my breathing with the waves, trying to match it, just to see if I could. In when the waves were crashing, and out as they were pulled back in. In, and then out. And I went at weird times, so it was just me and the waves and the birds and the wind. I could just relax, sinking into the still sun warmed sand. Digging my toes in, then the rest of my feet, and up and up, bit by bit. Still breathing in... and out...”

At this point, the details were imaginary. But the basic idea was real, and the rest of it didn’t matter. The point was just giving Hunk something to focus on, less on the visuals and more on the sounds and touch. Let him replace the bits and pieces with what was familiar to him, and get past some of that heavy anxiety while they had the chance.

Slowly, Hunk went boneless against Shiro, heavier from relaxation. He continued to narrate, not pausing from the shift. And soon after, his breathing went from the measured pace of the meditation to simply slow and heavy as he nodded off.

It hadn’t taken long at all. Poor guy must have been exhausted. Shiro wondered if Hunk had been sleeping well lately.

Once he was sure Hunk was fully asleep, Shiro setted in himself, not drifting but cozy regardless Hunk’s warm presence against his side was comforting, and he could see why Hunk had enjoyed idly playing with Shiro’s hand, in theory. His own thumb was idly rubbing circles against Hunk’s knuckles, just for something to do.

The peace wouldn’t last long. Eventually, someone would burst into this room and wake Hunk up. And after, he and Shiro would talk about his homesickness, how he was sleeping, if something would help. The productive things.

But for now, Shiro would take peace where he could find it, and he’d make sure Hunk could take advantage. He deserved that much. They all did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Hunk Whump, because there's not a significantly higher volume than the first time around and this fandom still needs it. 
> 
> Just one more left!
> 
> Whoops starting to get out an actual backstory for Shiro. Huh. At some point I'll probably get it all out, but it's not today.


	5. I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Shiro was the first one into the control room, brow furrowed in confusion and thought. It had been Allura who called them, but she’d said it was on the behalf of Pidge. Which was... unusual. Shiro wasn’t sure why Pidge wouldn’t just call them herself, or why they’d all have to meet her. Unless it was something important.

Catching Pidge’s eyes, Shiro tilted his head, wordlessly asking if she was alright. He got a flash of a smile from her, thin and shaky for the short time it lasted.

Okay, that didn’t make him feel better. But Pidge was standing next to Allura near the controls, in what Lance jokingly liked to call ‘the front of the classroom’. It felt undermining, somehow, to walk through and break that. So Shiro offered a smile back and settled against the wall to wait, still watching Pidge carefully.

It didn’t take long for the others to show up too. They were well trained by now, and even in non-emergency summons, it took a few minutes tops to get everyone together. Lance and Coran arrived first, both smelling faintly of disinfectant, and Lance looking gleeful to be called. Shiro arched a brow at Coran who gave a quiet huff back. Trouble, then, but the kind Coran likely wouldn’t feel the need to share.

Keith and Hunk arrived together, heads sent close as they talked in low voices. Tilting his head, Shiro watched them curiously, because they were friendly, but they didn’t tend to plot when it was just the two of them. But Pidge’s cleared throat made them all turn her attention up front, and any curiosity was quickly forgotten.

“I found something,” Pidge announced, looking at the screens rather than at any of them. She was uncharacteristically fidgety, shifting from foot to foot and her hands clenching by her side. “Um, Princess, would you mind pulling up the files I sent you?”

Nodding, Allura did so, then stood back and gestured for Pidge to take control of them, She looked just as confused as the rest of them. Pidge nodded, then pressed on the workstation, and a planet appeared next to Pidge.

“A few minutes ago, I picked up a distress signal from this planet. It’s, uh, not something the castle would usually look for, I don’t think. I only noticed because I was monitoring it. The distress signal is Galran.”

Lance sat up straighter, brow furrowed. “Okay, why do we care if the Galra are in trouble? Are we gunna go after them while they’re down?”

“Kind of,” Pidge replied. “The call was for reinforcements, so something is going down there. We’re not super close, we’re heading in that direction anyway.”

Glancing at the planet, and then at Pidge, Hunk’s brow furrowed. “This is one of the planets you were tracking? So that’s-”

Pidge nodded. “It’s one of the possible planets my family is.”

There was a brief moment of silence, then the room exploded into noise. Allura and Shiro shared a quick nod, then Allura called for everyone to change. “Be fast. We need to get there before the reinforcements.”

“Oh, that’s not going to be a problem,” Pidge interjected, still looking pale but with a hint of her typical smirk. “I jammed the signal. No one’s coming to help them but us.”

Beaming, Shiro patted her on the shoulder. “Good thinking.” Her returning smile was fraying on the edges, but more comfortable than she’d looked for the rest of the conversations. “Do you have anything on the structure of the planet?”

Pidge nodded, and they all crowded around as they started to plan. The distress signal gave no hints what the problem was, but they were able to at least get a basic idea of where the defenses were, how many jets they could expect, and the terrain they would need to deal with. It was rudimentary at best, but it made everyone settle in and think, and the more they had going in, the less they could be surprised by.

As the ship prepared to make the jump from wormhole to space, they filed out to change into their armor. But Keith hovered near Pidge, and Shiro slowed his steps out of curiosity.

“I’m glad you told us,” Keith murmured to Pidge, only barely audible to Shiro at the door. “Instead of going off.”

Pidge chuckled. “That’s more your speed.” But then she paused, the silence heavier. “Thanks. I’m glad I did too. I wouldn’t have. Not anymore.”

Another pause, but this time Shiro suspected Keith was nodding. “I know. I just wanted to say.”

Feeling just a little bit better, Shiro turned and made his way toward his rooms.

***

“That’s unusual,” Coran muttered over the intercoms, as the lions entered the atmosphere. The defenses are already operational and firing, but we don’t detect anything but Galra forces in the air.”

Brow furrowing, Shiro opened Coran’s view in the corner of his interface. “They’re.... Firing on themselves?”

“It seems so,” Allura replied, each word slow and careful, like she wasn’t sure she believed it. “Maybe some sort of malfunction? Or a military coop.”

As they broke through the cloud cover, they could see the tower defenses firing off at Galra forces, making the jets spin and dodge to avoid going down. And many of them weren’t managing. It seems they hadn’t been detected yet, since nothing re-aimed at them. “Pidge,” Shiro called. “Cloak and see if you can get a closer look. I don’t like going in without knowing what we’re firing at.”

“Affirmative,” Pidge replied, voice losing most of the nerves from before. And going on without alerting anyone meant she would have to keep herself contained. They didn’t need her being reckless like last time.

Once she was gone, Shiro pulled back so they were still mostly in the heavy clouds, using the scans to keep track of what was going on rather than the cameras. “Do we know _anything?_ ”

“There’s significant movement in the mines. And much less life than we should be seeing in there.” Allura’s voice was going frustrated. “Nothing seems right here.”

“Wait,” Lance interrupted, voice thoughtful. “Where are the prisoners?”

Everyone went quiet for a moment. “In the mines?” Keith guessed, as Shiro increased the size of the view, looking for himself. “The Galra like to lock them up during this stuff.”

“He’s right,” Hunk replied, dawning realization in his tone. “There’s no big groups. The life forms are everywhere. Even if everyone was working in the mines, you’d expect more... clustering, right?”

An idea started to form, little more than just a seed. “Coran, can we hail the defenses?”

Another moment of shocked silence, then Coran hummed. “Perhaps. Depends on the frequencies they’re on. We can try a few.” Then, belated, he asked, “Why do we want to let them know we’re here?”

“No, you think...” Pidge breathed, quiet but hopeful. “You think it’s a revolt?”

Shiro winced. He didn’t want to get her hopes up. “I don’t know. It’s just a thought. But... there’s no prisoners locked up or working, and the planet defenses are firing on Galra ships. And the stealth approach will only work so long. See anything, Pidge?”

“Nothing. There’s no soldiers on the ground, at least. Everyone has to be underground or under cover. I can’t scan into the defense towers to see. Should I head back?”

Taking a deep breath, Shiro nodded. “Affirmative.” Then he went quiet, thinking. It was much less straightforward than usual, now. They were flipping a coin and taking a side. For all they knew, the prisoners had been put on the ships for evacuation, and going after them would only be killing innocents.

Then Keith spoke up. “Can we detect which ship is sending off the distress beacon?”

“On it,” Hunk replied. “Yeah, it’s the central command ship. Not from the ground.”

This time, Allura sounded much more comfortable. “Sounds like a reasonable target. Anyone looking for more Galra ships is no friend of ours.”

“Sounds good enough to me,” Lance replied. “Form Voltron?”

Shiro smiled. “Form Voltron.”

The battle was downright easy, compared to the previous two times they’d defended mining planets. The ships were numerous, but small, and they’d been having trouble keeping out of the way with the defenses. With that on their side, the power of Voltron, and the castle, it didn’t take long at all to start cleaning house.

And once in awhile, a clean, curb-stomp battle was just satisfying.

But, as the ships thinned and the last few were shot down, the defenses turned on them.

“Woah!” Lance called, as they were forced to dodge laser blast. “Hey! We helped you.”

Shiro grimaced. “Any luck on that hailing frequency, Coran?”

“I don’t think we’ll be that lucky,” Coran replied. “We’ll have to communicate some other way.”

Another blast shot at them, this time blocked by the shield. “How are we supposed to do that?” Keith snapped. “They’re the ones firing on _us_. There’s not much more peaceful than ‘we shot your enemies and didn’t try and kill you’.”

“Well, they don’t know that yet,“ Hunk offered. “They didn’t give us much of a chance, but they probably couldn’t know what we were going to do.” He paused, then sighed. “Well, assuming they’re not Galra soldiers. They probably know.”

Shiro hesitated, then sighed. “Drop the weapons and shields.”

“What?” Keith shot back. “Are you crazy? We’ll be hit.”

“We can take one or two,” Shiro replied. “Not comfortably, but we can. And that’ll show we’re coming in peace. Hold up the arms and wait.”

The silence was distinctly unhappy, but they obeyed. Landing on the surface of the planet, the weapons were deactivated, leaving Voltron’s hands free to hold up.

“I don’t know if this makes sense when you’re not from Earth,” Lance murmured, tone tense. The defenses were still lit and active, and it looked like they were holding their charge and about to fire.

Allura sighed. “It would work for an Altean, but not for recognition of the gesture. We wouldn’t want to fire on an unarmed opponent.”

“And-” Pidge finally spoke up, then went quiet again. “Nevermind. Just a thought.”

Shiro closed his eyes. He hoped the same thing. That whoever was watching might just be from Earth.

That ended the conversation again, leaving them in a tense silence.

Then, finally, the defenses dimmed and went out.

“There’s movement,” Coran reported, sounding breathless with relief. “Seems like a group is coming toward the surface. They must have failed to hail us as well.”

Another silence as Shiro took a deep breath, fighting back hope. They needed to remain objective. If he was too upset by it not being them-

“Shiro?” Pidge finally asked. “We should meet them, right?”

Snapping back into the conversation, Shiro nodded. “Right. Allura, Coran... you might want to stay up, just in case.”

“Good idea,” Allura replied. “We’ll land shortly if all goes well.”

Shifting back into the individual lions, they moved to where it looked like the group would be coming up, then exited their ships. Once on the ground, Shiro’s gaze found Pidge’s. She was pale and her eyes were wide, and he was painfully reminded at how young they all were.

Chest aching, Shiro extended his hand to her, intending just to give a quick, bolstering squeeze. But she latched onto it with both hands, gripping tightly, and he didn’t have the heart or inclination to try and stop her.

The metal flooring opened then, achingly slowly. And someone climbed out.

It wasn’t either of the Holts. And neither was the next. Or the next.

Pidge squeezed tighter, and Shiro closed his eyes against the sudden, vicious disappointment. This was exactly what he’d been afraid of, and he had to get past it, because they needed to work with these people. He had to get his act together and-

“Pidge!” Lance hissed suddenly, patting her shoulder hard enough that Shiro felt the movement too.

Eyes snapping back open, he looked again.

Matt Holt was the last to crawl out. His hair was long and he was bruised and thin looking, but it was easily, recognizably him, so similar to how Pidge looked.

A tremor ran through Pidge, and then she cried “Matt!” and bolted toward him, still holding tight to Shiro and damn near dragging him along. Letting go with one hand, she nearly slammed into her brother, wrapping an arm around him.

Matt looked confused and terrified.

At first, Shiro thought the worst, that this wasn’t Matt, or that he had lost his memories, or any of a million other possibilities. The others reacted, turning guns on them, and they whined as they fired up.

Then Shiro realized they were still wearing their face-obscuring helmets. Reaching down, he pulled off Pidge’s for her, and he heard the moment Matt gasped with realization.

“Katie?” He reached down and pushed her back, just enough to see her face, his own expression confused and still scared, but hopeful now. “How the hell- your hair, and... oh my god, _Katie_.” Matt wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. “What are you doing here?”

Pidge laughed, small and watery and relieved. “Finding you, obviously.” And she finally let go of Shiro’s hand to return the hug.

Smiling, Shiro took a step back. Luckily, the other prisoners - and that’s obviously what they were, given their dress and condition - had dropped their weapons now, so Shiro could comfortably take off his own helmet as well.

“Where’s Dad?” Pidge asked, taking a deep breath. Her hands were still locked into Matt’s clothing, pulling at the fabric so hard it looked like her fingernails might rip right through it. “He’s okay, right? You’re both-”

Matt nodded. “Yeah. He’s here. Well, okay is- he’s okay, yeah. Relatively. He’s back down inside.”

And that seemed to be the final straw again, because Pidge buried her face in Matt’s shoulder, shaking slightly. And Shiro was loathe to break them up, but this was probably not the place for this. “Should we go inside?” He asked quietly, looking more at the other prisoners than the siblings, because he didn’t think they were listening to anything but each other right now. “We don’t think there’s anyone else coming soon, but it’s still open here.” Shiro glanced back and tapped his ear, letting the others know to alert Allura and Coran that it was safe. When he turned back around, Matt had picked his head up and was staring at him.

“Shiro?”

Shiro smiled back, a little strained. His heart clenched, sorry to have interrupted, afraid of Matt’s reaction to seeing him again-

Rather than reply right away, Matt seemed to collapse down until he was sitting on the ground, still holding onto Pidge. Then he laughed. It was wild and choppy and off balance, but it wasn’t hatred, and Shiro stared at him in open confusion. “Okay. Sure. Anybody else I know?”

Pausing, Shiro actually gave it thought out of shop. “Uh. I don’t think you ever met Keith, but you know _of_ him.”

Matt laughed harder at that, burying his face in Pidge’s hair. “Oh my god,” he murmured, breathless. “Okay. I’m calm. I’m calm.” He took a few deep breaths, then nodded. “Yeah. We should go in. Rana, can you lead the way?”

A tall - nearly 8 foot, easily - dark-red skinned alien stepped forward and nodded to them. “This way, then,” they invited, and gestured for the group to follow.

The rest of the prisoners seemed to decide they weren’t going to get much out of Matt and Pidge at that point, so they were glancing curiously at Keith, Hunk and Lance instead. Stepping forward, Hunk asked about how they’d taken control of the defenses, and a conversation started up, a little tense but peaceful.

Shiro should be paying attention. It was useful information. But he couldn’t drag his eyes away from the Holt’s.

Arm around Pidge’s shoulders, Matt pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I still need an answer about why you’re in space, you know.”

Pidge shrugged. “Alien robot lion space ships,” she replied, voice nearly to her usual bland sarcasm. Matt just gave a frustrated whine in response, wordless and nearly sulky. It was such a familiar sound that it felt like it a kick in the chest to Shiro.

He should be giving them privacy. The conversation ahead was so important, and they deserved to have this moment without him hovering-

“Shiro,” Pidge called, cleanly interrupting his train of thought. “Come here.”

Shiro’s feet felt like lead. Pidge meant well, but Matt might not want him close. Was he limping? Shiro couldn’t tell, with the way he was pressed so close to his sister, and he’d missed him climbing up before, so-

Then Matt held out his other arm, gesturing for Shiro to come closer. And he was completely unable to deny him that.

He wasn’t sure what he expected when he got there. Some kind of comment, or maybe more laughing. When Matt used his arm to wrap around Shiro’s shoulders and pull him into a hug, he went tense in pure shock, and then he smiled and returned the gesture, careful not to dislodge Pidge. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself,” Matt replied, still with an edge of the near-hysterical laughter. “You got big.”

That made Shiro snort. “A bit, yeah.” When Matt let him go, Shiro pulled back, making the Matt’s arm slide off his shoulder and brush against the metal of his arm. And he could see the exact moment it dawned on Matt that it wasn’t more armor, but part of him. Shit.

Gripping at the metal bicep, Matt stared, then slowly looked at up Shiro. “Is that from... from when...?”

It took Shiro a moment to figure out what he meant, then he shook his head. “No! No. Later. Not from that fight.”

Matt relaxed, then looked guilty for being relieved. “I- Okay, I have way too many questions. We’ll talk in a bit. We need to get Katie to Dad first.”

Glancing between them, Pidge frowned. “If you guys need to talk...”

“We can talk later,” Shiro replied immediately. “Go spend time with your family.”

Raising a brow, Matt glanced between them both, and his head tilted. Knowing him, he was putting together some ridiculous details and using one and one to make three, then getting the right answer anyway. “Guess that means you’re staying,” Matt replied. Ahead of them, Rana opened a set of doors, and Shiro could see more prisoners, more people, loud and boisterous now that they were free.

And sitting in a control chair, greyer than before and with a makeshift cane by his side, was Commander Holt. He waved in greeting, then froze as he realized Matt was wrapped around someone, and who that someone was.

“Dad!” Pidge cried, tearing away from Matt to bound toward her father instead. Watching her go, Matt glanced back and at Shiro. “You’ve been looking out for her?”

Shiro nodded. “As much as I can.”

Smiling back, a little sadly, Matt nodded. “That’s two I owe you.”

Heart clenching in a strange mixture of relief and sympathy, Shiro shook his head. “I did what was right.”

Matt’s expression was warm and a little sad. Nostalgic, maybe. “Doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to be grateful. We’ll talk.”

“Yeah, we will.” Shiro smiled back, and he had a feeling his face matched Matt’s.

Reaching back, Matt grabbed onto Shiro’s wrist. It was the metal one, and for a moment Matt paused, looking off balance. But then he shifted his grip, holding onto Shiro’s hand like he had when Commander Holt had first been taken away from them.

And as they walked toward where Sam was currently gripping Pidge like she might vanish into air, Shiro felt like something had slotted back into place, somehow. That they’d come full circle.

It was a surprisingly hopeful feeling. Shiro could get used to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I accidentally plotted.
> 
> You know, this was a better twist when it came out of nowhere, before I ended up filling like 3 Matt/Shiro Kink Meme prompts with the same characterization.
> 
> Anyway, so here's what's up: Starting next week, I'll be posting one of these every other day. It's 'five conversations between Matt and Shiro after the rescue +1', to get all the of questions and plot and cohesion out of the way. Then we'll return to your regularly scheduled program.
> 
> If you're not here for Matt, don't worry, that focus will be gone in a week. If you are here for Matt, great, you just got a ton of content in one week, lucky you! Either way, this series will _remain canonically gen_. So your shipper hearts are safe, don't you worry.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Holding Out Hope](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11194104) by [SCythErk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SCythErk/pseuds/SCythErk)




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